Machinery [EU]
The directive on machinery lays out the essential health and safety requirements relating to the design and construction of machinery placed on the market within the EU.
The directive applies to the following:
- Machinery;
- Interchangeable equipment;
- Safety components;
- Chains, ropes and webbing;
- Removable mechanical transmission devices
- partly completed machinery.
Before placing machinery on the market, the manufacturer must ensure that its meets the essential health and safely requirements. The technical file must be available. It must demonstrate that the machinery complies with the directives. It must cover design, manufacturer and operation to the extent necessary for assessing compliance.
The conformity assessment procedures must have been applied. The EC Declaration of Conformity drawn up. The CE marking must be affixed.
States may not prohibit or restrict or impede placing on the market of machinery, which complies with the provisions of the directive. States must take measures to ensure machinery may be placed on the market only if it satisfies the requirements of the directive and does not compromise to health safety of persons, animals or property.
States must permit machinery permitting bearing the CE mark and accompanied by the EC Declaration of Conformity, as presumed to be complying with the provisions of the directive.
Machinery manufactured and compliance with harmonized standards, references to which have been published in the OJ of the EU are presumed compliant with health and safety requirements covered by the standard concern.
The manufacture of machinery must ensure that a risk assessment is carried out to determine health and safety requirements applicable to the machinery. It must be designed and constructed taking into account the results of the risk assessment and constructed in accordance with those results.
The manufacture and the risk assessment must:
- determine limits of the machinery including intended use and reasonably foreseeable misuse;
- identify hazards generated by machinery to an estimated risks taking account of severity of injury and damage to health and probability;
- eliminate risks;
- eliminate hazards or reduce risks associated with those hazards by  protective measures.
The manufacturer must apply one of the procedures for assessments described in the directive in order to certify conformity with the directive.
States must notify the Commission another States of the bodies they appoint to carry out assessments of conformity for the placing of machinery on the market.
The directive indicates six categories for electrical machinery that are covered exclusively by the low voltage directive. For other machinery, the safety objectives of the low voltage directive apply as regards to electrical risks, but the machinery directive requirements apply in respect of other essential requirements and obligations.
The directive applies to partly completed machinery. The corresponding technical file must specify the requirements of the directive with which the partly completed machineries comply.
A distinction is made between lifts covered by the lifts directive and those covered by the machinery directive. If the machine lifts at less than 0.15m/s, it is covered by the machinery dicrective.
Machinery  be designed to certain  harmonize standard covering all essential requirement, do not require  a notified body to assess its conformity i.e., an official body. If the manufacturer doesn’t apply harmonized standards or if the standards applied do not cover all the essential requirements, it  may opt for EC type examination or the full quality assuarance procedure as set out in the annex to the directive.
States must ensure that national notified bodies are  monitored to verify they conform and meet the approval criteria.
The States must carry out market surveillance. They must cooperate with each other and commissioned in market surveillance.
A directive on lifts applies to lifts serving buildings and constructions and the safety components in such lifts.
The directive defines the essential requirements, which must be met by lifts in the manufacture and prior to being placed on the market. Lifts and safety components manufactured in accordance with the harmonized standards are presumed to conform with essential health and safety requirements.
The harmonized standards are drawn up by European standardization bodies on the basis of essential requirements The conformity assessments of lifts and safety components are carried out by designated bodies in accordance with the minimum assessment criteria or by the manufacturers themselves.
The conformity assessment procedures are based on the approach set out in the rules and respective conformity assessment procedures and CE marking.
Before being placed on the market. lifts and safety components must have the CE conformity mark affixed confirming conformity with the directive. It must be fixed by the manufacturers or the authorized representative established in the EU. Where the notified body is involved in the production or inspection phase, its identification number must be incorporated in the mark.